Port of Montreal nets $150M for container terminal project

The Port of Montreal has revealed that the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) allocated $150 million for port’s container terminal project in Contrecœur.

Back in 2021, the Port of Montreal’s expansion of its activities at Contrecœur received a favourable Decision Statement from Canada’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, allowing the project to proceed.

The new financial support will enable the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) to implement a new delivery model for the major expansion project on Montreal’s South Shore. Under the new approach, the port will be taking over some of the responsibilities for carrying out the project and cancel the current call for tenders to opt for a more agile approach. Work on the future terminal will be carried out in hybrid mode.

Specifically, the Port of Montreal will act as prime contractor for this phase, which includes dock construction and dredging work. Project planning will use a Design-Build approach with a specialized firm assisting the MPA for the next 9 to 12 months. At the end of this phase, the MPA will assign the project works according to its procurement processes, and will present an updated schedule for this component of the project works.

Meanwhile, will issue a Request for Proposals in early 2024 to select a private partner to build the terminal (container yard, buildings, facilities and rail connection). This private partner will also operate and maintain the terminal under a DBFOM (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain).

As a result, the DBFOM procurement process launched in November 2021, which included both the terminal’s construction work (marine and land site) and its operation, has been cancelled to make way for this new method to successfully carry out the project that is better suited to today’s reality.

“This financial backing from the federal government sends a strong message about our large Contrecœur expansion project and the future of the logistics ecosystem in the St. Lawrence corridor. It lets us embark on the next steps with confidence, so that we can continue to play our vital role as a sustainable economic driver at the heart of the Quebec and Canadian economies,” said Geneviève Deschamps, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the port.

“MPA teams are continuing their rigorous planning on the Port of Montreal’s major Contrecœur expansion project that is so crucial to keeping supply chains resilient. The new procurement process put forward will enable us to control risks, project works and costs more effectively in the current context.”

At the beginning of this year, the port announced it plans to allocate $335+ million in its new five-year investment plan for its infrastructure on the Island of Montreal.